Sharing Logic tips and tricks

[alcorey]

Logic 10.8 out:

Logic Pro for Mac release notes - Apple Support

Learn about the enhancements and improvements in the most recent versions of Logic Pro for Mac.

support.apple.com

It contains between 150 and 200 changes. Here are some of them:

• New Slip and Rotate tools allow for the contents inside a region to be moved independent of their position on the timeline.
• Channel strip sends no longer remain active when the track is set to Off.
• Region-based Automation can now be copy/pasted between regions.
• Snap to bar for Global Tracks now works with time signatures other than 4/4.
• The key commands for assigning articulations in the Score now also work in the Piano Roll Editor.
• It is now possible to disable record on other MIDI tracks by pressing Option while arming a MIDI track.
• User created patches now include all sends saved with the patch when loaded.
• Projects saved to cloud storage locations now display in the Recents menu.
• Control Surface settings are now available from the Logic Pro > Settings menu.
• The Select All Following command now works as expected.
• No-overlap now works reliably when pasting regions over portions of existing regions.
• New Slip and Rotate tools allow for the contents inside a region to be moved independent of their position on the timeline.
• There are now key commands to select the previous and next articulation in the current Articulation set.
• Overall performance in the Score Editor is improved.

Mastering Assistant:

Use Mastering Assistant in Logic Pro - Apple Support

With Mastering Assistant in Logic Pro for Mac and iPad, make your final mix sound great on any playback device.

support.apple.com

Just thought this should be noted also:

Logic Pro 10.8 for Mac requires macOS Ventura 13.5 or later. For more information, visit apple.com/logic-pro.

 

[Vik]

Absolutely silly real question, if I upgrade to the latest Logic do I have to reset all of my custom options and weird things I have? When I upgraded to the latest Os system, it knocked out everything and I had to redo it.

Your Logic settings should be intact after an update. It’s still a good idea to make a backup of your current Logic version before updating.

 

[anp27]

Absolutely silly real question, if I upgrade to the latest Logic do I have to reset all of my custom options and weird things I have? When I upgraded to the latest Os system, it knocked out everything and I had to redo it.

The only thing I noticed that changed was the plugins in the Plugin Manager that I deselected 'Use'. In other words Logic "un-Hid" all of the plugins that I hid. I had to go back in and re-Hide those plugins. Apart from that all other settings stayed intact.

 

[Nick Batzdorf]

Your Logic settings should be intact after an update. It’s still a good idea to make a backup of your current Logic version before updating.

Putting a finer point on it, it's a good idea to have multiple backups of your entire system before anything!

 

[Vik]

In Logic 10.8, it's no longer necessary to press Alt/Option when using the tracks' On/Off buttons in order to free up memory: using these buttons without a modifier disables the plugin and frees up memory now.



Drag up/down over these buttons (click on one of them first) if you need to enable/disable several adjacent tracks.

 

[Vik]

The key command called Sustain Inserted Notes is a hidden gem among Logic's key commands.
In the early Logic days and if you were in step record mode in the Score editor or using the Step Input Keyboard, using that KC would increase the length of the note you inserted. But as long as you are in
This somehow works in the Piano Roll as well, with the limitation that this function follows the selected value in the so called Part Box, and the Piano Roll doesn't have a part box. However, Logic has a little window called the Step Input Keyboard, which has it's own set of key commands – and even if you don't plan to use that little keyboard window, the best way to start using these functions is to have it open (especially if you are in the Piano Roll editor).

Here's a suggestion for how you can start to use it in Score:

1) Enable MIDI In (use ONE click on the left button to make it red/active):

2) Place the playhead where you want to start

3) Play a note on your external MIDI keyboard.

The note will have the same length as the note that's selected in the Part Box (default: 1/8-note), and the pitch/velocity of the note you entered.
If you now play another note, it will be inserted after the first one.
If you play two or more notes at the same time, you'll insert an interval/chord.

Now, if your next note isn't going to be an 1/8 note, but a 1/4 note, you don't need to change note value. While you are still pressing the key on your MIDI keyboard, use Sustain Inserted Notes to sustain it. By doing that once, you'll convert it to a 1/4 note, and if you want a dotted 1/4 note, just press "-" again. The sustain length will be the same as the note you just entered has.

If the above sounds somehow complicated, it really speeds up this kind of step input work once you get used to it, and since the core process is simple (enable MIDI In, play a note, use "-" to sustain it when needed), the learning curve isn't steep.

In the Score editor you can select note length value either with a key command or by using a key command: look for the Part Box key commands in the key command window*.

Piano Roll
If you mainly use the Piano Roll, the procedure is pretty much the same, but it's a good idea to have the Step Input Keyboard open while you work in the Piano Roll. (It's actually a good idea to have it open in score as well, even if the score has it's own, always visible Part Box.)
In the piano roll, there's no part box but the Step Input Keyboard window has its own set of key commands – and you can click on the note values in that window.


Note that Logic has two floating keyboard windows, which both can be payed with a mouse. The lowermost one in the pic below is the Step Input Keyboard, but again – you don't need to use any of these if you use an External MIDI keyboard.







The 'Musical Typing' keyboard also has a second mode, which allows you to use your computer keyboard to enter MIDI notes:

There's a (non-assigned) key command for the Musical Typing keyboards, called Show/Hide Graphic Keyboard – and the key command for opening the Show/Hide Step Input Keyboard is ⌥⌘K.


* If you use both the piano roll and the score editor, it's probably a good idea to use the Step Input Keyboard key commands in both windows – but remember that the Step Input Keyboard needs to be open in order to make these key commands work (and that you don't need to use they keyboard in that window).

https://support.apple.com/en-en/guide/logicpro/lgcpb19a8406/mac

 

[Vik]

Regarding the function in Logic functioned called "Record MIDI to Track Here" (RMtTH): it's more important than I assumed it was.

You'll need it if you use MIDI effects if you want the alterations done by the Modifier, Scripter etc to be 'burnt' into the MIDI date when you record MIDI. That's why it appears here:



I found out that I needed this because I was using the scripter to force Logic to see incoming MIDI Notes as having another MIDI channel than my external keyboard was set to. I heard the results I wanted in real time, but when I pressed Record, the playback sounded different: it sounded like there was no MIDI FX on the track at all.

With the script, I could record both V1, V2, Va, Vc and Cb onto one single region and have them end up with unique MIDI channels (violin 1 = MIDI channel 1 etc). I just had to tell the scripter which channel number I wanted to the recorded events to have (by selecting 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5). I haven't checked yet, but assume that this works whether I record in real time or enter one note at a time

In addition to this advanced new function (RMrTH), I'd prefer a very simple way to deal with this as well, like a preference setting called eg. "Always include alterations from MIDI plugins into a track when recording".

There is a way to change the outgoing MIDI channels from my my keyboard using a Mac app I have, but that app is very syrupy, so RMtTH is a very welcome new function. Combined with using Explode Polyphony, it opens up for a better workflow when creating multi-voice stuff (for strings, voice etc).

 

[Dewdman42]

This feature was added in 10.7.5

 

[Berdinskikh]

could record both V1, V2, Va, Vc and Cb onto one single region

creating multi-voice stuff

I only wonder how such a concept would work with Articulation sets?

 

[Vik]

I only wonder how such a concept would work with Articulation sets?

Since Logic unfortunately doesn't (yet?) have a dedicated parameter for 'voice number' it would be a mess for those who rely on MIDI channels for articulation change.

 

[Dewdman42]

I don' know if this idea helps you or not, but one thing you can potentially do with scripter set to run before record...is you can have scripter change the articulationID of each note ..which will be stored in addition to whatever midi channel you want recorded. so its possible to use Articulation set to initially set an articulationID and then for scripter to look at that and make some further decision to change it to a different articulationID..which can then be used later for various different purposes, perhaps related to your voicing desires..

 

[Vik]

I don' know if this idea helps you or not, but one thing you can potentially do with scripter set to run before record...is you can have scripter change the articulationID of each note ..which will be stored in addition to whatever midi channel you want recorded. so its possible to use Articulation set to initially set an articulationID and then for scripter to look at that and make some further decision to change it to a different articulationID..which can then be used later for various different purposes, perhaps related to your voicing desires..

Thanks for the input, but this sounds something which is more complicated/left-brained than I'm ready for in the midst of a creative process!


-----




Here's the document where Apple discusses setting the core preferecences right on Apple Silicon Macs:

Change the number of cores used by Logic Pro for Mac - Apple Support

Use the Processing Threads setting to manage how Logic Pro uses the processing cores on your Mac.

support.apple.com

According to my own experiences, the Automatic settings works fine (it is also recommended in Logic's preferences, see below), but this may not always be true for all AS Macs:

"Many factors influence how macOS distributes the workload to the cores on your Mac. The optimal value for the Processing Threads setting can vary depending on the apps you're using simultaneously, your hardware, and your Logic Pro projects. Selecting the highest number of processing threads may not always be the best choice. Experiment with different settings to determine the best balance of performance and reliability."

In case the below window (see image) is confusing: "14 cores (12 performance cores" means that 14 of the cores in this example are set to prioritise Logic, and that 12 of these are performance cores – meaning that two of the efficiency cores also is reserved for Logic. This means that the OS (and/or other apps) could risk having to little horse power.

 

[Vik]

Here's my last tip in this thread: stay away from Logic if you want to be as safe as possible in terms of ending up with tinnitus / reduced hearing and all the side effects this may cause.


This is a copy of something I wrote in a thread about a phenomenon described as "The White Noise Blast of Death".

Here's what I wrote:
I can confirm that this problem exists on M3 Macs, in Sonoma, using the current Logic version.


I haven't seen this thread until today.

For those who don't wan t to read 9 pages:

"...multiple Logic users have reported experiencing an extremely loud blast/explosion sound that shows up on Logic's meter as being between 500-800db (which is impossible, but whatever the actual value is, it is EXTREMELY loud). Some users have reported permanent hearing damage and tinnitus caused by the WNBOD, and neither Apple or the Logic community have found a solution. Unfortunately I was wearing headphones when this happened, so I experienced bad headaches and aching ears last night, and they were ringing for a few hours. Thankfully today my ears and hearing are back to normal."

Also: "While a lot of people have had this problem in Logic before, I honestly think VEPro could be the culprit here. (I've experienced loud blasts in Logic in the past, but nothing like this)."

I have never used VEPro, and have had that thing twice. I've had a couple of tinnitus accidents in the past, which may explain why these two this last 'blast of death' incidents created even more tinnitus – which did NOT go away.

"I hate to say this but when I googled WNBOD most of the reports were from Logic users."
Scary.
"It's actually the reason I left Logic many years ago. I worked with Apple for 6 months on it. They literally did everything they could from upgrading my computer for free, to giving me the latest OS's for free. No one could get rid of the issue. The last time I did it, I ended up full out punching myself right in the face and almost blacked myself out from having headphones on and it doing it."

I also contacted Apple about it, but they haven't responded.

"This noise blast is a known problem with Logic and a serious threat to one's health." It sure is.
Here's someone who had it in Cubase as well, but...
"Then Cubase implemented this feature where if your driver crashed it would mute the audio outputs so you wouldn't get this. Then I only insisted on getting good audio interfaces with stable drivers and haven't had that problem since that time.

Changing your audio interface should solve it-- that Logic hasn't implemented that simple feature borders on cruel and inhumane."

"So all to say, the WNBOD problem in Logic could be as simple as Logic temporarily losing track of it's "place" in the bitstream? Obviously a catastrophic error though." Catastrophic it is.

And it gets more scary:
"Sticking a limiter on the master won't help I'm afraid. The noise burst bypasses everything straight to your interface and monitors. It's not just a logic issue either, it's systemwide. Have a search and you'll see people have had the same bursts in itunes, spotify, web browsers etc for years. It's certainly becoming more and more frequent in logic though. I've read it's a digital timing issue with core audio, but no-one can nail it down."

This, unfortunately, sums it up (this was an answer to a question if Logic, like Reaper, has a setting that automatically mutes any audio spikes over a certain decibel level, so the user is protected):

Apparently it does not and it's shocking that that's the case.

The Blast of Death thread is here:

The White Noise Blast of Death -- I'm losing my mind

Select and drag with your mouse the threshold at the bottom left of the plugin.

vi-control.net

 

[jbuhler]

Here's my last tip in this thread: stay away from Logic if you want to be as safe as possible in terms of ending up with tinnitus / reduced hearing and all the side effects this may cause.


This is a copy of something I wrote in a thread about a phenomenon described as "The White Noise Blast of Death".

Here's what I wrote:
I can confirm that this problem exists on M3 Macs, in Sonoma, using the current Logic version.


I haven't seen this thread until today.

For those who don't wan t to read 9 pages:

"...multiple Logic users have reported experiencing an extremely loud blast/explosion sound that shows up on Logic's meter as being between 500-800db (which is impossible, but whatever the actual value is, it is EXTREMELY loud). Some users have reported permanent hearing damage and tinnitus caused by the WNBOD, and neither Apple or the Logic community have found a solution. Unfortunately I was wearing headphones when this happened, so I experienced bad headaches and aching ears last night, and they were ringing for a few hours. Thankfully today my ears and hearing are back to normal."

Also: "While a lot of people have had this problem in Logic before, I honestly think VEPro could be the culprit here. (I've experienced loud blasts in Logic in the past, but nothing like this)."

I have never used VEPro, and have had that thing twice. I've had a couple of tinnitus accidents in the past, which may explain why these two this last 'blast of death' incidents created even more tinnitus – which did NOT go away.

"I hate to say this but when I googled WNBOD most of the reports were from Logic users."
Scary.
"It's actually the reason I left Logic many years ago. I worked with Apple for 6 months on it. They literally did everything they could from upgrading my computer for free, to giving me the latest OS's for free. No one could get rid of the issue. The last time I did it, I ended up full out punching myself right in the face and almost blacked myself out from having headphones on and it doing it."

I also contacted Apple about it, but they haven't responded.

"This noise blast is a known problem with Logic and a serious threat to one's health." It sure is.
Here's someone who had it in Cubase as well, but...
"Then Cubase implemented this feature where if your driver crashed it would mute the audio outputs so you wouldn't get this. Then I only insisted on getting good audio interfaces with stable drivers and haven't had that problem since that time.

Changing your audio interface should solve it-- that Logic hasn't implemented that simple feature borders on cruel and inhumane."

"So all to say, the WNBOD problem in Logic could be as simple as Logic temporarily losing track of it's "place" in the bitstream? Obviously a catastrophic error though." Catastrophic it is.

And it gets more scary:
"Sticking a limiter on the master won't help I'm afraid. The noise burst bypasses everything straight to your interface and monitors. It's not just a logic issue either, it's systemwide. Have a search and you'll see people have had the same bursts in itunes, spotify, web browsers etc for years. It's certainly becoming more and more frequent in logic though. I've read it's a digital timing issue with core audio, but no-one can nail it down."

This, unfortunately, sums it up (this was an answer to a question about Logic, like Reaper, has a setting that automatically mutes any audio spikes over a certain decibel level, so the user is protected.





The Blast of Death thread is here:

The White Noise Blast of Death -- I'm losing my mind

Select and drag with your mouse the threshold at the bottom left of the plugin.

vi-control.net

I've had this happen once and only once, and it was more than a decade ago. Fortunately I was not wearing headphones. You can evidently guard against it by running the output of your interface through a physical limiter before the sound is passed to the monitors or headphones. But, yes, the question is why you should have to do this, and shouldn't Apple have a way to guard against this?

 

[AEF]

This white noise burst been happening to me a lot recently, fortunately my monitors have a built in limiter. Have had to use Logic for compatibility with an old client.

Several versions ago it would happen anytime you switched a stereo plugin to a multi-output plugin.

Now Im not sure what sets it off, but some combo of the SINE player, MIDI Fx, and the Synchron Player does it.

Never have a single issue of this sort with Cubase.

 

[PeterN]

Wouldn't it make sense if there was an automation feature which would balance the loudness. We could take vocals for example. You got these higher peaks and then lower areas. Or how about a snare that was recorded with a microphone. Same.

So with this feature you press a button and Logic draws an automation through the audio file. Which balances it. You could select 'how much'. (yes, we know about those plugins).

Shouldn't this be out already? Does any DAW have this?

 

[SupremeFist]

Wouldn't it make sense if there was an automation feature which would balance the loudness. We could take vocals for example. You got these higher peaks and then lower areas. Or how about a snare that was recorded with a microphone. Same.

So with this feature you press a button and Logic draws an automation through the audio file. Which balances it. You could select 'how much'. (yes, we know about those plugins).

Shouldn't this be out already? Does any DAW have this?

Hornet Autogain Pro.

 

[Jeremy Spencer]

Wouldn't it make sense if there was an automation feature which would balance the loudness. We could take vocals for example. You got these higher peaks and then lower areas. Or how about a snare that was recorded with a microphone. Same.

So with this feature you press a button and Logic draws an automation through the audio file. Which balances it. You could select 'how much'. (yes, we know about those plugins).

Shouldn't this be out already? Does any DAW have this?

Compression.

 

[Tronam]

Here's my last tip in this thread: stay away from Logic if you want to be as safe as possible in terms of ending up with tinnitus / reduced hearing and all the side effects this may cause.


This is a copy of something I wrote in a thread about a phenomenon described as "The White Noise Blast of Death".

Here's what I wrote:
I can confirm that this problem exists on M3 Macs, in Sonoma, using the current Logic version.


I haven't seen this thread until today.

For those who don't wan t to read 9 pages:

"...multiple Logic users have reported experiencing an extremely loud blast/explosion sound that shows up on Logic's meter as being between 500-800db (which is impossible, but whatever the actual value is, it is EXTREMELY loud). Some users have reported permanent hearing damage and tinnitus caused by the WNBOD, and neither Apple or the Logic community have found a solution. Unfortunately I was wearing headphones when this happened, so I experienced bad headaches and aching ears last night, and they were ringing for a few hours. Thankfully today my ears and hearing are back to normal."

Also: "While a lot of people have had this problem in Logic before, I honestly think VEPro could be the culprit here. (I've experienced loud blasts in Logic in the past, but nothing like this)."

I have never used VEPro, and have had that thing twice. I've had a couple of tinnitus accidents in the past, which may explain why these two this last 'blast of death' incidents created even more tinnitus – which did NOT go away.

"I hate to say this but when I googled WNBOD most of the reports were from Logic users."
Scary.
"It's actually the reason I left Logic many years ago. I worked with Apple for 6 months on it. They literally did everything they could from upgrading my computer for free, to giving me the latest OS's for free. No one could get rid of the issue. The last time I did it, I ended up full out punching myself right in the face and almost blacked myself out from having headphones on and it doing it."

I also contacted Apple about it, but they haven't responded.

"This noise blast is a known problem with Logic and a serious threat to one's health." It sure is.
Here's someone who had it in Cubase as well, but...
"Then Cubase implemented this feature where if your driver crashed it would mute the audio outputs so you wouldn't get this. Then I only insisted on getting good audio interfaces with stable drivers and haven't had that problem since that time.

Changing your audio interface should solve it-- that Logic hasn't implemented that simple feature borders on cruel and inhumane."

"So all to say, the WNBOD problem in Logic could be as simple as Logic temporarily losing track of it's "place" in the bitstream? Obviously a catastrophic error though." Catastrophic it is.

And it gets more scary:
"Sticking a limiter on the master won't help I'm afraid. The noise burst bypasses everything straight to your interface and monitors. It's not just a logic issue either, it's systemwide. Have a search and you'll see people have had the same bursts in itunes, spotify, web browsers etc for years. It's certainly becoming more and more frequent in logic though. I've read it's a digital timing issue with core audio, but no-one can nail it down."

This, unfortunately, sums it up (this was an answer to a question if Logic, like Reaper, has a setting that automatically mutes any audio spikes over a certain decibel level, so the user is protected):





The Blast of Death thread is here:

The White Noise Blast of Death -- I'm losing my mind

Select and drag with your mouse the threshold at the bottom left of the plugin.

vi-control.net

I've been using Logic since 1999 and this has never happened to me before, either on Intel or AS. I've had the M1 MBP, M1 Ultra Mac Studio, M2 Max MBP, and now M3 MBA. I wonder what the cause could be. Some combination of audio interface and particular plugins used?

 

[Alex Fraser]

I've been on a Pianobook download bender lately for acoustic instruments.

I've been using Sculpture to add note off "release noise" to inject a bit more life into some of the downloaded samples. Set up Sampler + Sculpture in a track stack and adjust to taste. Works a treat.